Saturday, December 8, 2007

It’s started. The goodbyes. The real ones, not the ceremonious half-serious farewell sessions that feel like just another chance to meet up, in which you know someone’s leaving but only as a remote thought at the back of your head….. where you read out write-ups summing up the BITSian life and contributions of the person, adding all the quirky details and anecdotes, all the while strengthening the presence of the person in your consciousness rather than a feeling of loss……But “when the hurly-burly’s done…..”….the real goodbyes are different. Two minutes, three minutes max… what do you say? “Bye, it was nice knowing you, take care, we’ll meet sometime surely, keep in touch….”… redundant cliché’s not meant to express the sudden pang or to hide the feeling but only to show the inadequacy of words, the inability to express what you feel, partly shyness, partly a sudden desire to simply run away…..They were the people who made up a huge chunk of the very definition of the place for you…they were the people who made your little world what it is…. And not just the people you were close to, but even the ones you barely knew, they all made up that little oasis in the middle of the desert….These people were the ones who took you under their wings when you came here. They were the ones to give you a sense of security and belonging, show you the ropes, initiate you in the traditions, and the ones who made you see what BITS would mean to you if you let it in….“Nobody said it was easyIt’s such a shame for us to partNobody said it was easyNo one ever said it would be so hard….”I don’t want to pretend to bid a cheerful Englishman goodbye. I just want hide under my blanket…..for my little world as I knew it is slipping away…..